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From Bootcamp to Doctolib: How Saskia Became an Engineering Leader in Health Tech
Seven years ago, Saskia didn’t know how to code. Today, she leads engineering teams at Doctolib, solving complex challenges in health tech, from distributed systems architecture to AI integration. After transitioning from business to tech through Le Wagon’s bootcamp, she built her foundation as a developer and found her path to engineering leadership.
“Moving into engineering management isn’t the next step in a technical career. It’s a completely different role,” shares Saskia, now an Engineering Manager at Doctolib.
With a business administration degree from universities in Maastricht and Copenhagen, Saskia’s journey into tech wasn’t a straight path. During her studies, a part-time role in data analytics sparked her interest in tech. “I wanted to add a hard skill to my business background,” she remembers.
On a friend’s recommendation, she enrolled in Le Wagon’s coding bootcamp in Copenhagen. It was a small cohort of just three students. “The intimate setting and intensive training provided exactly what I needed to build a strong technical foundation,” she says. Following her own bootcamp experience, she became a Teaching Assistant at Le Wagon in both Copenhagen and Berlin.
After cutting her teeth as a Junior Developer at a Berlin-based B2B video platform startup, Saskia made a strategic move to Doctolib.
“I was looking for an established company with a mature platform where I could learn from experienced software engineers and grow through their mentorship,” she explains. The main tech stack at the time was Ruby on Rails and React, which made it a perfect match. But just as important was the mission alignment. “I could really identify with Doctolib’s product because I had used it myself as a patient and immediately saw the value.”
Doctolib is currently undertaking one of its most significant technical challenges. The team is gradually transforming a monolithic architecture into distributed systems to improve scalability and reliability as the platform grows. This shift requires not just technical expertise but also a change in how teams operate.
“Each feature team is expected to be in full control of their software, from building to running it,” Saskia explains. This transformation enables teams to build and maintain more resilient systems that better serve millions of healthcare professionals and patients.
After several years of development, Saskia’s team is preparing to launch their billing software as part of Doctolib’s upcoming All-in-One solution. This is a comprehensive practice management system designed to reduce the administrative burden on medical professionals.
Unlike typical startup products, healthcare software needs to be fully certified before it can go to market. “We can’t release an MVP. The product needs to be complete and certified before launch,” she says.
The new billing software aims to automate routine tasks and streamline workflows. “Billing takes up significant time that could be spent with patients,” Saskia notes. Her team is exploring how AI can support and enhance these processes through intelligent systems. The complexity of healthcare billing rules and regulations makes this a challenging space that demands both technical depth and an understanding of the medical field.
AI plays an increasingly important role at Doctolib, both in customer-facing solutions and internal tools. How has AI changed Saskia’s approach to coding?
“AI is a great help, providing a good initial direction for solving complex problems and generating ideas.” She sees it as a tool to support developers, not replace them. “AI might give you a starting point, but you still need experienced developers who understand the broader context. That’s especially important in healthcare, where reliability and security are crucial.”
Saskia’s leadership style reflects Doctolib’s emphasis on ownership and empowerment.
“It’s not about being the best programmer,” she says. “Technical skills are essential, but so is general management. One aspect can’t make up for the other.” She sees her role as an enabler. “My job is to create the framework that allows my team to deliver and grow.”
This required a shift in mindset. Moving into management meant stepping back from hands-on coding to focus on people and processes. “It’s not the next step in an engineering career. It’s a different job entirely.”
Looking back, Saskia credits Le Wagon with instilling a mindset of resilience, positivity and adaptability.
“Seven years ago, I knew nothing about this field. Look where I am now. It taught me that you don’t need to know everything. You just need to start and adapt.”
Her advice to her younger self? “Trust the process, trust yourself, just do it. You don’t need to have the next steps planned out. Start, and worst case, you’ll learn valuable lessons.”
If you are also interested in changing your life around, book a call with one of our advisors today.
Doctolib’s tech team is hiring
Join us in building software that supports healthcare professionals across Europe. We’re currently looking for Senior Engineers, Staff Engineers, Engineering Managers, QA Engineers and AI Specialists in our Berlin, Paris and Nantes offices. Check out openings here.
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